Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, although listening to Jon Stallworthy's reading of William Blake's "London" enlivens the musical qualities of the poem, listening also can blur the details of the poem including the figures of speech, poetic devices and purposeful patterns. Next, the author suggests that a visual reading of the printed poem is bound to be freer than Stallworthy's elucidation of the meter and rhythm of the poem. The paper underscores that the audio and visual readings of the poem converge to offer the best possible interpretation of Blake's poetry because reading the poem assists with understanding its content and listening projects the musicality of the poetry.

From the Paper:

"The audio version of "London" encourages a rhythmic understanding of the poem. Stallworthy reads "London" almost strictly in iambs, stressing every second syllable. Yet in the second stanza, Stallworthy stresses every third syllable instead of every second one. Stallworthy also tends to stress the last syllable of each line and achieves his rhythm without becoming monotonous. A visual reading of the printed poem is bound to be looser before hearing Stallworthy's interpretation. Internalizing Stallworthy's voice improves the ability to read Blake's poem with rhythm when viewing it on the page."

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